FRESH plans for a new wave of Tory austerity will deliver a “hammerblow” to struggling households and put further pressure on Scotland’s dwindling budget, the SNP have warned.
Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng said public services will face real-terms cuts of up to £18 billion a year, as he confirmed budgets will not be topped up in line with soaring inflation.
The move has been described by economic experts as one which is likely to have an “extraordinary” impact on the NHS and schools.
It could have serious implications for the Scottish economy which, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), is already facing a £3.5 billion gap by 2026/27 – the equivalent of £640 per person.
Kate Forbes has previously said rising inflation was having an impact on the Government’s finances and it may have to consider dropping some policy commitments if Westminster refuses to make up the shortfall.
Alison Thewliss, the SNP’s shadow chancellor, said more austerity would threaten Scotland’s NHS and public services and consign millions to poverty.
She added the UK Government were sending a clear message to Scottish people that independence is the only way to protect the economy.
READ MORE: Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng announces plans to abandon abolishing 45p tax rate
She said: “Tory plans to inflict a new wave of devastating austerity - which will consign millions of people to poverty and hardship - puts beyond doubt that independence is the only route to escape damaging Westminster control and get rid of the Tories for good.
"The threat of Tory austerity 2.0 will deliver a hammerblow to households struggling to make ends meet.
"Scotland's budget is already worth around £1.7bn less than when it was set in December as a result of inflation. The reality is that this latest round of austerity will deliver yet more cuts and further threaten our vital NHS and public services.
"The Chancellor's remarks that the Tory government intends to pile on further misery by walking their well-trodden road to austerity will further entrench the poverty the Tories have caused.
"The UK Government must rule out a return to another decade of Tory austerity and instead come before Parliament urgently to set out real and targeted support to protect households and businesses.
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"People in Scotland are getting a very clear message from the UK Government - your homes, your pensions, your incomes are not safe under Westminster control. Independence is the only way to protect Scotland's economy.”
Kwarteng argued that it was right to stick within spending allocations made in 2021 despite inflation now being more than twice the forecast peak of 4% made then.
His remarks came after he was forced to perform an embarrassing U-turn as he scrapped plans to abolish the 45p top rate of income tax – something which the Scottish Government said would not have been replicated north of the Border.
Maggie Chapman, the Scottish Greens’ economy spokesperson, said more cuts of public services will have “brutal consequences” for people all over Scotland.
The MSP added: "The Tories are crashing the economy in real-time, and now they want ordinary people and families to pick up the pieces.
"To remove £18bn from the services we all rely on during a cost crisis is obscene. The cuts they are inflicting will have brutal consequences for people all across the country, who have already been hit by years of Tory cuts.
"With Scottish Greens in government we will do everything we can to protect our services from the impact of Tory austerity.
"Next year's independence referendum will give us the opportunity to do things differently.
"With the powers of a normal independent country in Europe we can do more to invest in services and build a Tory-proofed economy that can work for people and the planet."
An HM Treasury spokesperson said: “We are committed to growing the economy across the UK through our growth plan, which will allow us to properly fund and invest in our vital public services.
“The responsibility for funding public services is largely devolved across the UK, but we have provided the Scottish Government with a record £41 billion per year for the next three years - the highest spending review settlement since devolution.”
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